Faculty Lounge

A Summary Listing of Faculty Activities at Colleges Around the Nation

Angie Chittick has been named the 2017 Postsecondary Teacher of the Year by the National Business Education Association. Chittick is a business instructor at North Platte Community College (Neb.). She was recognized during the NBEA’s annual convention in Chicago. “It is a very humbling honor and accomplishment,” said Chittick. “I just love what I do, and if I can make a difference in a student’s life, that is reward enough.” To be considered for the honor, Chittick first had to win a qualifying award in her region, which she did in June of last year. The Mountain-Plains Business Education Association named her as its 2016 Postsecondary Teacher of the Year during its annual conference in Kansas City. Both the national and regional awards are designed to recognize outstanding contributions to business education by a postsecondary business educator. Chittick has taught business classes at NPCC for 20 years. She is known for using a variety of innovative teaching practices in her classroom to address different learning styles and for implementing project-based learning methods. Chittick is past president of the Nebraska State Business Education Association, for which she has also served as vice president, secretary and postsecondary representative. In addition to NBEA and M-PBEA, Chittick has been actively involved with Delta Pi Epsilon, the National Education Association, the Nebraska Department of Education Standards Writing Teams and Phi Beta Lambda.

Southwest Tennessee Community College, in partnership with Jenny and Randy Boyd, has announced the Jenny and Randy Boyd Summer Scholars Institute. In collaboration with Tennessee Achieves (tnAchieves), Class of 2017 Tennessee Promise high school seniors will have the opportunity to participate in a 10-week program where scholars will receive up to 13 college credit hours at no cost. This free program allows students to enroll in English, reading and math classes with additional daily tutoring. The institute will be held May 30th through August 7th at Southwest’s Whitehaven Center, 1234 Finley Road. “Tennessee Promise and tnAchieves are about creating opportunities for our youth, particularly those who never thought college was an option,” said Randy Boyd. “We are excited to partner with Southwest to create a more confident and successful student population who ultimately earns a college degree!” This pilot program targets Tennessee Promise students from high schools within a 12-mile radius of Southwest’s Whitehaven Center. The goal of this program is to increase the percentage of students who matriculate to post-secondary directly following high school graduation as well as to decrease the percentage of students requiring remediation. Krissy DeAlejandro, Executive Director, tnAchieves says, “tnAchieves is excited to launch a pilot program with Southwest that seeks to eliminate summer melt! We are confident that with additional supports more students will not only enter the college pipeline but will also successfully complete a college credential.”